For each diamond:
Cast on 2 stitches
Row 1 – knit (2 stitches)
Row 2 (and every even row) – purl
Row 3 – knit 1 front and back, k1fb (4 stitches)
Row 5 – k1fb, knit 2, k1fb (6 stitches)
Row 7 – k1fb, knit 4, k1fb (8 stitches)
Row 9 – k1fb, knit 6, k1fb (10 stitches)
Row 11 – knit
Row 13 – k1fb, knit 8, k1fb (12 stitches)
Row 15 – k1fb, knit 10, k1fb (14 stitches)
Row 16 – 30 knit every odd row, purl every even row
Row 31 – knit 2 together, knit 10, k2tog (12 stitches)
Row 33 – k2tog, knit 8, k2tog (10 stitches)
Row 35 – knit
Row 37 – k2tog, knit 6, k2tog (8 stitches)
Row 39 – k2tog, knit 4, k2tog (6 stitches)
Row 41 – k2tog, knit 2, k2tog (4 stitches)
Row 43 – k2tog, k2tog (2 stitches)
Row 45 – knit 2 stitches as one, pull ball through to
finish.
Make 6 diamonds, 3 plain and 3 with stripes (change colour
every 4 rows). Sew together, stuff, and you're done! I used wool to sew the seams on the inside,
but went over some of them on the outside using coloured thread, just to neaten
them up a bit.
A very quick easy knit, I did it over two afternoons while
the baby was napping & then sewed it all together tonight. I have no idea how big the original one was
suppose to be, but mine is about 30cm diameter.
Oh, and I used 3mm knitting needles and any old scraps of wool from my
basket, all of different weights and plys and so forth. I never find that kind of thing matters too
much. Wool is very forgiving.
I wanted it to be jingly, and in my innocence thought I’d just pop a bell
in the middle and that would be that. But as soon as the bell was embedded in
the stuffing it didn’t make a nice Noddy-ish bell sound anymore, just a kind of muffled
rattle. I tried various things, but what I ended up doing was boring some holes in one of those plastic
canisters from a Kinder Surprise egg with a pair of scissors, and putting the bell inside that. If you can't get hold of a Kinder Surprise, one of
those black film containers might work, or a whiffle ball, or a cat toy. 
